Principled Policing

Description

John Alderson demonstrates how it is all too easy for everyday police officers to fall into behaviour which becomes difficult to comprehend-as a result of police practices, working cultures and a lack of values for decision-making. Through his description of what he calls ‘high police’ and by way of worldwide examples he calls for decency, fairness and morality to act as touchstones for police officers everywhere. Principled Policing – which is dedicated to ‘the innocent victims of the world’s unprincipled policing’ is now in wide use on courses for police training.

Review

‘The book … is excellent … I am using often during the seminars which we have in Macedonia’: Trpe Stojanovski, 50 Police Division, Republic of Macedonia.

Author

John Alderson QPM is the former Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall and enjoyed a high profile during his police career arguing for decency and morality in police work – and against the abuse of power. He is a barrister-at-law and police writer and scholar whose work is of international repute. His books have been translated into many languages (from Icelandic to Chinese) and are currently in use in police institutions worldwide. His police career, spanning 36 years, began as a foot patrol officer in the North of England. He later held some of the highest and most influential positions in British policing, including Commandant of the National Police Staff College, Bramshill and Assistant Commissioner, New Scotland Yard: his career culminating in his appointment as chief constable of Devon and Cornwall where, as a proponent of community policing, he developed its theory and initiated its early practice. In 1982 he was commissioned by the Council of Europe Committee for Education in Human Rights to write the European textbook for the training of European police officials, Human Rights and the Police (Strasbourg, 1984). His other published works include The Police We Deserve with P J Stead (Woolfe, 1973), Policing Freedom (Macdonald and Evans, 1979) and Law and Disorder (Hamish Hamilton, 1984). He was visiting professor of police studies at the University of Strathclyde from 1983 to 1988, has held fellowships at Cambridge, Oxford, Exeter and Portsmouth universities, and holds doctorates (Honoris Causa) from the universities of Exeter (Law) and Bradford (Letters).